Automatic railway-switch



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

O. E. SEIPBRT. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

Patented Apr. '17, 1894;

{Diva/265M W 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

.0. E." SEIPERT. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

. OTTO EMIL SEIFERT, F BROOKLYN, NEW, YORK.

A UTOMATIC RAI LWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 518,281, dated April 17, 1894.

Application filed August 11,1893. Serial No. 482,907. (No model.) v

To aZ Z whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OTTO EMIL SEIFERT, a

' citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Automatic Railway-Switch, (for which I have obtained no foreign Letters Patent whatever) of which the following is a specification.

My lnvention relates to improvements in automatic railway switches in which switch tripping or operating devices, located on or connected with the car and deriving their motive force therefrom, operate in conjunction with levers and connecting rods located under or adjacent to the track to automatically move the switch bar or tongue.

The object of my improvement is, to provide levers and other connected devices attached to the car and in control of the motorman of cars run on the steam, the trolley or the cable systems, for making contact at will with and operating switch-moving devices located in, under or near the track.

In the horse car system, switches are operated by a system which employs a weight of a horse for that purpose. In the steam,trolley and cable systems, aspecial switch man is provided, or the motorman must descend from his car and act as his own switohman. My system does away with these methods of operating switches.

I attain my object by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichv Figure 1 is an elevation or side view of a car on a track, with the switch operating and operated devices in part sectional view. Fig. 2 is a top view of. the same showing the parts of the switch in position as closed. Fig. 3 is a top view of the same as at the moment of opening the switch. I Fig. 4is a detailed part side and part sectional view of the switchopcrating devices and adjacent portions ofv the car and also of the switch tongue moving devices in the track. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the same with the parts shown in position as at the moment of closing the switch. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view out on lines a'-x Fig. 4, looking toward the center of the car. Fig. 7 is a sectional view out on lines 'y--y, Fig. 4, looking away from the center of the our, and Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the guide block, on the line x-m, showing a modification.

. Similarletters relate tosimilar parts throughout the several views.

My switch system can be used in connecmanner, and its motion made in opening and closing the switch is under the control of a system of lovers and connecting rods located between the rails and adjacent to the rail on the side at which the switch tongue is located.

B is a bell crank lever provided at its outer end witha hook rod H, which makes contact with the outer side of the tongue T for the purpose of drawing the tongue over and opening the switch. The other end of the bell crank lever B is connected, by means of the connecting rod R, with the switch lever L located in the outer grooveUof the guide block G. The switch lever L is normally held in its retreated position as shown in Figs. 1 and 4,

by the spring S; but when tripping contact is made therewith by the tripping lever M on the car, the switch lever L is moved forward with the moving car, thereby communicating motion to the bell crank lever B through the rod R, and also to the switch tongue T, which is moved into the position of the open switch, shown in Fig. 3, in which position of the tongue the car under way will proceed on the main track beyond the switch. As'the switch lever L is thrown forward bythe tripping 1ever M in contact therewith, its end K moving on an arc, swings downward as well as forward until the toe K of the tripping lever M clears it, whereupon contact will be broken and the switch lever L will return to its normal position under the control of the spring S, carrying with it the rod'R, the bell crank lever B and the hook H. The tripping lever M is secured in a frame F attached to the bottom of the car, and is held in position by a pin thereon that is located or takes in a slot N in the tripping lever,,which slot should be long enough to insure the contact of the too ICO K or the tripping lever M with the upper and pro ecting end of the switch lever L easily but certainly, at whatever load stage or level the car may occupy at any time. The tripping lever M is brought into proper position for action by the motorman, who simply pulls up the handle 0, connected by a chain runnlng over a pulley and a rod with the tripping lever M. The motorman may of course put the tripping lever into the tripping position at any time at will.

The tripping lever M is counterbalanced as shown, so that when the handle 0 is dropped the top of the tripping lever drops backward, and the forward end of the tripping lever rises out of the way of the switch lever L, and so as to pass over it without contact, as shown in Fig. 4.

The tripping lever M may be kept or held 1n position for tripping by engaging the handle C with the pawl P, which is provided with a socket for the handle 0 and a shoulder to maintain it in or near a vertical position for t that purpose. When the handle 0 is let go or released from the pawl P by the motorman, thetripping lever M is returned automatically and alone to the non-tripping position.

A springS bears upon the forward side of the top of each tripping lever M M, giving both a backward and a downward pressure, thereby keeping them in control.

The bell crank lever B makes contact with the switch tongue T at its opposite or inner slde and directly-that is, without the intervention of aconnecting rod or hook, as in the case of the bell crank lever B-and its function is to close the switch by moving the tongue T of the switch over toward the rail, as shown in Fig. 5. The bell crank lever B is provided with a connecting rod R and a switch lever L, locatedin its own groove U; and the switch lever L is placed in such a position as to be tripped or moved by the contact of the tripping lever M located on the car and provided with similar means for operation by the motorman as has been already mentioned in describing the tripping lever M and its method of operation.

0 is the handle for operating the tripping lever M; P is the pawl for holding the same in position, and a similar chain and connecting rod is provided between the handle G and the tripping lever M.

K is the end of the switch lever L.

A pin on the frame F enters a slot in the tripping lever M similar to that described in connection with the tripping lever M, giving it similar freedom of movement. And the tripping lever M is counterbalanced in the same way so as to return automatically to the non-tripping position, as shown in Fig. t. The rods R R are placed in tubes E E, respectively, for purposes of protection.

The car is provided with two sets of tripping levers and mechanisms 0 0, one at each end, so as to place the switching devices and the switch tongue in the control of the motorman occupying a position in the front of the car in whatever direction the car may be moving. In each case the lovers L and L, the rods R and R and thebell cranklevers B and B return to their-normal positions as shown in Fig. 4, under the control of spr ngs S and S, respectively, without disturbing the position of the switch tongue T; the connection of the respective bell crank levers with the tongue T being so made as to permit such movement. The guide block or plate G is provided, as shown in Fig. 5, with two longitudinal grooves U U in the top, which are widest at the outer ends, and narrow down to the points where the levers L and L are located and substantially fill the grooves from side to side, but so as to permit ree movement of the levers backward and forward. Dangerous contact of the wheels of vehicles, the, with the top of the levers L L, is prevented by the adjacent projecting ribs of the guide block or plate G forming the grooves. In each case the ends of the levers L L must project far enough to engage the toe K or K of the tripping levers M M, but not so far as to create an obstruction in the street or be liable to damage by passing wagons. The levers L and L pass up through the slots from below. i

The guide block Gr should extend far enough on one side to avoid the catching of the toe K or K against the block, and should also extend beyond the lever L or L, on an incline preferably, to insure such contact, if any, as will lift the tripping lever and avoid catching it solidly against any part of the guide block, the street or the adjacent rail. These extensions are indicated by the letters W W.

Fig. 8 shows a modification of the guide block consisting in dividing the grooves in which the levers L L move into a wider upper part U U, Fig. 8, and a narrower lower part U 'U Fig. 8. When this modification is used the tripping levers M M should be made wider, the object being to provide in each groove shoulders at the line where the wide and narrow parts unite, upon which the lower ends of the tripping levers may strike,

thereby limiting their downward movement in tripping and giving them a uniform regular sweep in performing their function of tripping.

The bell crank levers B and B are preferably secured in an iron frame or box D, located as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5.

The switch levers LL may be operated by a hook or bar in the hands of a local switchman with the same results as to the movement of the tongue.

I claim as my invention-- 1. The tripping levers M' M in combina* tion with the guide block G and switch levers L L.

2. The guide block G, the switch levers L i L, connecting rods RR, bell crank levers B B and tongue T, in combination.

3. A tripping lever M attachedto a car and provided with suitable operating devices, in combination with a switch lever L,a grooved guide block G, rod R, bell crank lever B and switch tongue T, substantially as shown and described.

4. A tripping lever Mattached-to car and provided with suitable operatingdevices, in combination with a switch lever L, a grooved guide block G, rod R, bell crank lever B and switch tongue T, and a tripping lever M attached to a'car and provided with similar operating mechanism in combination with a switch lever L, grooved guide block G, rod R, bell crank lever B and switch tongue T.

5. The guide block G provided with the grooves U U and U U the switch levers L L, connecting rods R R, bell crank levers B 20 OTTO EMIL SEIFERT.

Witnesses:

CHAS. HANIMANN, EDWARD S. BERRALL. 

